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Helm Talks - energy climate infrastructure & moreHelm Talks is full of short, 'pull no punches' in Author: Helm Talks - energy climate infrastructure & more
Helm Talks is full of short, 'pull no punches' insights into: Energy & Climate; Regulation, Utilities & Infrastructure; Natural Capital & the Environment. Professor Dieter Helm is Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford. Language: en Genres: Business Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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The energy security gap
Monday, 23 February, 2026
The International Energy Agency, at its recent ministerial meeting (Feb 18th/19th), agreed on one top priority: energy security. Hybrid warfare, cyber-attacks and the ease with which modern energy infrastructure can be disrupted underscore the urgency of the issue. The UK’s current approach – reducing domestic gas production, increasing reliance on imported LNG (liquefied natural gas), depending heavily on undersea cables, and an overwhelming emphasis on intermittent technologies – is making the country more vulnerable, not less. Two key factors are weakening the UK’s industrial resilience and national defence capability: its strategic dependencies, particularly on Chinese supply chains for renewable technologies; and the rising costs and intermittency of its energy mix. Despite the scale of this challenge, there are significant opportunities to rebuild a more secure, resilient energy system. UK energy is neither "home-grown" nor cheaper. High-cost energy, dependent on foreign supply chains, raises the cost of defence and the exposure to shocks, political or otherwise.
